Saturday, April 30, 2011

More news is good news. And that is what we have for you now, through a new feature on CharlotteObserver.com.

It’s called the Charlotte News Alliance (CNA). This is a network of 16 local websites, and growing, that have partnered with The Charlotte Observer to offer you the region’s most comprehensive look at local news.

You can find summaries and links to the best of these stories in the lower half of the home page on CharlotteObserver.com. A number of these stories will also appear on the printed pages of the Observer. In turn, some Observer stories will appear on the partner sites.

Some CNA sites are operated by journalists, some by civic-minded citizens. But all are opening doors to a tier of news coverage that is uniquely “hyper-local.”

By that, we mean news that can be as local as your own neighborhood or your own particular topic of interest.

For example, BallantyneScoop.com is a hyper-local site based in south Charlotte’s Ballantyne community, while QcityMetro.com is a news and information site focused on African-American life across Charlotte.

Through this alliance, we believe we are building on the strengths of all of the partners. How?

CharlotteObserver.com is the most visited local news site in both Carolinas, attracting 2.4 million viewers a month from around the world. But our region is vast and still growing, making it very challenging to deliver everyone the most intensely local news possible.

This, however, is the primary mission of hyper-local sites. They can deliver readers a more narrowly targeted area or topic. Their challenge often is building enough audience to generate revenue needed to operate their sites. Their affiliation with CharlotteObserver.com adds to that audience.

Working together makes us all stronger. It also provides you richer choices of content in one convenient place.

We began assembling this alliance more than a year ago, initially as the Charlotte News Network . Our preliminary work was aided by a grant from J-Lab: The Institute of Interactive Journalism at American University in Washington, D.C.

Among our partners are several startups, including HoodieCharlotte.com, which covers uptown Charlotte and four surrounding neighborhoods. We also have the websites of established media, including La Noticia and Mi Gente, both Spanish-language newspapers.

If you know of a local website that would be a good fit for this alliance, email a link and description to the Observer’s innovations editor, Jen Rothacker. You can see examples from all the partners, as well as other details, at the Charlotte News Alliance page.

About this blog

I'm Rick Thames, executive editor of The Charlotte Observer. I grew up in eastern N.C., and have also worked at papers in Florida, Tennessee and Kansas. At The Observer, I oversee all news, sports, business and features content: local, state, national and international. I do not supervise our editorial pages. They are the responsibility of Taylor Batten, our editorial page editor. Taylor and I report to the publisher, Ann Caulkins. I believe a newspaper can, and should, be an asset in its communities. It should inform, enlighten and inspire as it safeguards a free and self-governing society. I love what I do, and I wish the same for you.

Rick is happy to answer your questions:email them and he'll answer them here.